
Class 

Book l 



M 4<i<T l 



■I 



MEMORIAL EXERCISES 



IN HONOR OF? 



DAVID B. HENDERSON 

IIN HALU OP 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 



IN 



DES MOINES, IOWA 



Thursday, March 9 t J906 



DE3 MOINES, IOWA 

B. MURPHY, STATE PRINTER 

1906 



MEMORIAL EXERCISES 



IIS HONOR OR 



DAVID B. HENDERSON 



IIS HALL OR 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 



IIS 



DES MOINES, IOWA 



Thursday, March 9, 1906 



DE9 MOINE8, IOWA 

B. MURPHY, 8TATE PRINTER 

1906 



El 



By Transfer 

MAR * 1909 



3— 



House and Senate met in joint session for the memorial pro- 
gram commemorative of the late David B. Henderson. 
The following program was carried out : 

Call to Order • Lieutenant-Governor Herriott 

Invocation...'.''.'.'.'.'"'.'.'.'." Dr. A. L. Frisbie 

Music * • Hylo Quartette 

Memorial and Resolutions commemorative 

of the life of David Bremner Henderson Speaker Clarke 

Music Hylo Quartette 

Address Senator Dunham 

Music Hylo Quartette 

Address'.'.' ■.■■■■■ Representative Kendal 

Music..., Hylo Quartette 

Address Representative Frudden 

Benediction Dr - A - L ' Fnsb,e 



-4- 



Representative Wise presented tke following resolution, which 
Was adopted. 

"Hesolved by th< Senate and House of Representatives oi the 
Thirty-first General Assembly in joint convt ntion assembh d: 

"That the addresses, resolutions, and program of these mem- 
orial services, also the eulogy delivered by Hon. G. D. Perkins 
at Dubuque, be printed in neat pamphlet form, embellished with 
a cut of Ex-Speaker D. B. Henderson of the National House of 
Represenatives ; that five thousand copies of same be printed 
by the State Printer, two thousand copies of which to be 
presented to Mrs. D. B. Henderson, and fifteen copies of same 
to each member of the Thirty-first General Assembly. 



— 5— 



ADDRESS OF MR. CLARKE. 



Mr. President:— On the first day of March, 1906, in 
Linwood cemetery at the city of Dubuque, amidst the greatest 
profusion of flowers, arranged in the most beautiful and sugges- 
tive designs artistic skill could devise, in the presence of a great 
concourse of people representing different civic societies, the 
Grand Army of the Republic, the State, the citizens of Iowa, 
the rich and the poor, the children by hundreds, Col. David B. 
Henderson was laid to rest on a beautiful eminence overlooking 
quite an extent of country, a portion of his beloved city and, 
for some distance, the sweep of the majestic Mississippi. Thus 
passed forever from the vision of men on earth the human life that 
had its beginning beyond the sea sixty-six years before at Old 
Deer in Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It had been a life of mingled 
hardship, struggle, toil, battles, sufferings, joys, honors, vic- 
tories, disappointments; but the path he traveled led to a height 
above which there was nothing in otficial station for a man born 
in a foreign land. He was one of two of all our distinguished 
foreign born from all nations who reached the proud eminence. 
No title that could ever have been conferred upon him in his 
native land, no station which he might have reached there 
could have excelled in influence the office which it remained for 
the .Scot, schooled on the prairies of Iowa in the pioneer days 
and in the battles of the Great Rebellion, to bring for the first 
time to the country west of the Mississippi. No flag could have 
enfolded his coffin there which could have represented to him 
that which the stars and stripes which enfolded him at Linwood 
told him of the hope3 and aspirations of mankind, the cost of lib- 
erty and an indissoluble Union, and which made him shout and 
cheer when he saw its beauty and was thrilled by its symbolism 
in a foreign land. In explanation of his enthusiasm he could 
only say, "Oh, I am going home." 

David B. Henderson loved the land under the protecting folds 
of the American flag. He loved the people. That they loved him 
and that the prophet was not without honor in hi^ own country 
and in his own home was made strikingly manifest by the great 
crowds that thronged the streets at his funeral and the side- 
walks for more than a mile on the way to the cemetery. 
Iowa is proud of the man she has honored and who has sig- 
nally honored her and brought her so great distinction. Many 



may be the years before the speakership of the American Con- 
gress will again cross the Mississippi. 

It seems to me that Colonel Henderson was especially dis- 
tinguished for his deep, sincere patrioti&m. That he was not 
merely a hero -soldier, but a hero -patriot. A hero- soldier may be 
inspired by bravado, a love of distinction, of glory. There is a 
sublime disinterestedness about the hero-patriot. He is actuated 
because he loves his country and dares do all that love will 
prompt and inspire a man to do. He represents in himself the 
nation. He stands for all that it means in its myriad interests 
and great, inspiring, hopes. He is too great, too profoundly 
impressed with his duty to represent a district, a State merely, 
or a part of the people. He looks upon the flag as its beauty and 
richness flash in the sun, and the memory of a thousand fields 
and the long struggles of men toward the ideal yonder where it 
leads rush in on him and transport him to a region where silence 
or tears alone are eloquent. The bickerings, the personalities of t 
politics cannot command his attention, but his mind and heart 
moved by the majesty of great purposes, lays every personal 
interest upon the altar of country and becomes the personal 
embodiment of the ideal American citizen and patriot These 
elements of character, possessed in large degree by Colonel 
Henderson, it seems to me, won for him the confidence of his 
el low citizens and the second place in power and influence 
under the American system of government. 

The life of David B. Henderson, as a boy, was the life common to 
the youth in the pioneer homes of Iowa. No special advantages 
came to him. No influential friends smoothed his way. The rich 
qualities of his mind and heart were not smothered by wealth. 
This handicap, a kind providence denied him ; but he had the 
exceeding great advantage of being a poor man's son. Toil in 
the open fields gave him great physical strength and endurance, 
opened his mind and heart to a deep and generous sympathy 
with the great mass of the people who are the strength and life 
of the nation. 

The breath of the boundless prairies inspired him with the 
spirit of freedom, and he early reached the unalterable conclusion 
that there was room for but one flag in this country and that under 
it there could be no further extension of slavery. It is not sur- 
prising that, with the intensity of his nature, his devotion to his 
adopted land, always predominant, with the roar of Beaure- 



gard's guns at Fort Sumpter not yet silent, we find him address- 
ing his fellow students urging them to "drop their books to fight 
their country's battles." The stories of General Putnam leaving 
his plow in the furrow on hearing of the battle of Lexington and 
of Cincinnatus leaving the field to become the Roman dictator, 
both going to places of honor, distinction, and leadership are 
far surpassed by the youth abandoning his preparation for his 
life-work, his education, to give himself unreservedly, without 
hope of place or distinction, to the preservation of the union of 
these States. For instances of brave, unselfish, disinterested, 
heroic action in behalf of country, we are not confined to the 
days of the Revolution or of Roman glory ; but here in Iowa, at 
home, in this day, by one who was with us but yesterday, we have 
a youth assuming the leadership, rallying his companions in 
behalf of the greatest cause for which men ever gave their lives; 
and it may well be inscribed upon his monument as the central 
motive which inspired his life "we drop our books to fight our 
country's battles." Whether at Ft. Donelson or on the bloody 
field of Corinth, or in political campaigns, or on the floor of the 
American congress, with him it was "Our country's battles." 
Within a few months after the books were dropped and the 
sword grasped, and close to his twenty- second birthday, while 
leading the Fayette County students, he fell in the historic 
charge on Ft. Donelson. Recovering, he was immediately at 
the front again, and before the expiration of the same year he 
was lying upon the field of Corinth with a leg shot away. "His 
country's battles" were grievous ones to him and quite in con- 
trast with the peace and quiet with books in Upper Iowa Uni- 
versity. But again he appeared with the army as colonel of 
the Forty- sixth Iowa. A few years after the close of the war 
he began the practice of the law. Beginning in 1882, he was 
for ten successive terms elected to Congress from the Third 
Iowa district. There he grew in influence and promotion until 
years ago he was ranked as one of the strong men of the House 
and was a national figure. In 1899 he was elected Speaker 
and again in 1901. He might again have been re-elected, but 
doubtless conscious of the breaking down of his physical vigor, 
which soon after was apparent to others, he declined to enter 
upon a political campaign and resigned. 

David B. Henderson was not Dnly patriotic, brave, heroic, an 
antagonist worthy of any foe in any place where his life-work 
called him, always well to the front with the few who always 



occupy that position, but he was well endowed with all the finer 
sensibilities and feelings that so grace human character and 
captivate and win our admiration and esteem. After the bat- 
tle, after the exhibition of unfaltering courage, the lion -heart, 
came the calm, the repose, the good fellowship, the song in his 
heart, very frequently on his lips, sometimes rollicking, ' hum- 
orous, sometimes full of pathos, commanding the tear. Sym- 
pathy, tenderness, were characteristic of him. There is no true 
greatness apart from great-heartedness. A cold, intellectual 
life we admire, but we do not love. Colonel Henderson was 
intellectual, a sound, sane thinker; brave, eloquent, kind, tender, 
genial, not faultless, but a combination of qualities that won 
him renown and our love. Born on foreign soil, his only nobil- 
ity, the nobility of character, we rejoice in this transplanting of 
the best of Scottish blood in peerless Iowa, that, while he belongs 
to the nation we may claim he was our gift. 

He is gone. We have lost him. But his rise from poverty to 
fame, simply upon his own merits, will ever be an inspiration to 
youth; his courage, his devotion to country, his patience 
through years of suffering, his optimism, his tenderness of heart 
will be admired as the very best elements of character as long as 
the river flows at the base of the beautiful elevation where his 
mortal body sleeps forever. Iowa to-day, through her represen- 
tatives in this joint convention assembled, gives testimony to 
her appreciation of bis worth, saying, "Well done, thou good and 
faithful servant,' Farewell." 

In connection with this memorial are submitted the following 
resolutions: 

Resolved, That first of all we tender to the bereaved family 
of the deceased our sincere sympathy, and assure them that in 
the memory of the departed there is great comfort and that we 
shall ever revere and hold it sacred. 

That in the life of David B. Henderson we find an inspiration 
to good citizenship and devotion to country. 

That we commend to the young men of the country his 
example of self-reliance, decision of character, his following 
unhesitatingly the call of duty regardless of personal conse- 
quences. 

That in his patriotism and devotion to country we find a love 
that withheld nothina-. 



-9— 

That we are proud of his career as a union soldier because 
he gave us the idea. 

Tha this patience reproves our impatience, his years of 
suffering without complaint, shame our petulance at temporary 
and slight injuries. 

That we are proud of his career as citizen, soldier, lawyer and 
statesman, and that in his passing the state and nation has lost 
one of its greatest men. 



ADDRESS OF SENATOR DUNHAM. 

Mr. President — Chosen to have a part in the exercises of 
this day, and to speak regarding the life and character of the 
Hon. David B. Henderson I feel, as possibly I have never be- 
fore felt, my absolute weakness and inability. I could recount 
his life and works, and could call to your mind those incidents 
of his bravery in the service of his country and his efficient and 
faithful service in public and civil life, but the memorial just 
presented has given you a fair biographical sketch, and while 
much might be added which would be of interest, it would 
be cumulative and unecessary to make the record of the 
strong manhood and patriotism. I wish I had an eloquent 
tongue to fitly voice the sentiments which fill my heart on the 
passing of this friend of the people; to fitly express what seems 
to me the debt our nation owes to every man who in war or 
peace has offered himself a sacrifice for the perpetuity of his 
state, but I recognize my limitations, and shall leave that to one 
who has been more fortunately gifted and at whose feet I am 
always charmed to sit and listen, and I shall confine myself to 
the more modest role of telling you what David B. Henderson 
was to his District — that very small part of the domain of his 
usefulness and power. 

Iowa has been very fortunate in the choice of those who have 
represented the state in high places. Their wisdom and effi- 
ciency have placed her name far above the point in the roll of 
the national honors warranted by her material wealth, the 
extent of her territory or the number of her people; and to him, 
in the honor of whose memory we here convene, belongs great 
praise for the part he has performed in bringing that honor to 
our state. 

For twenty years he was a commanding figure in the council of 



—10— 

the nation. Wonderfully endowed with the power to read and 
know men, tactful and kindly, a power in action and in battles 
of debate, yet tying men to him with the bonds of affection 
which were seldom broken, he took as his by very right, the 
highest place the nation could give to him and finally passed 
voluntarily from the stage of public life in his full tide of honors 
and of power. 

Henderson was a warm hearted lover of humanity and his 
affection was given voice by him in the open, frank and manly 
way which warmed the hearts of men; his company was always 
sought and wherever he was there pleasure and good humor 
was at its height. There was a world of encouragement and 
strength for the weak or wavering in his hearty greeting and 
good will, and. you who have never attended a reunion of his 
regiment can never know how he was idolized by his compan- 
ions in arms. Words were not the measure of his affection and 
as we now look back upon the years of his useful life and know 
the demands that were made upon him, and his devoted service 
and self sacrifice to meet those demands, the wonder only is 
that he could have lived and labored so long. Not a person in 
his District but felt at perfect liberty to call upon him in time 
of need. The soldier, his widow, or orphan found in him a 
champion whose greatest pleasure was to serve them, and whose 
efforts seldom failed in times of stress and need ; whoever and 
wherever they might be," their last and surest hope was to "call 
on Henderson." 

He was a brave, a lion-hearted man, whether it was on the 
field of battle or in the rough and tumble of debate he had the 
courage born of conscious strength which commands the ad- 
miration of the world. He was a fair and open fighter and few 
seemed more to enjoy the conflict when there seemed a principle 
at stake worthy the strife of battle, and this was true in war, in 
Congressional hall, or in political campaign; everywhere he 
was recognized a leader. 

He was true to his friends. We have yet to know the honest 
man that could say that Henderson had deserted a deserving 
friend while thousands stand ready to vouch for his loyalty. He 
was a dependable man; wherever his word or his affection was 
given, it was backed by the full strength of his manhood. 

might co:. inue to recount his virtues. We of the Third 
could fill volume telling of his generous deeds, but those per 



—11— 

haps had better be left as they were given — the simple, kindly 
acts towards his individual friends. 

Was Henderson a perfect man? We are none of us perfect- 
no, not one: but if he erred, we know it was through a leaning 
toward the very kindliness of his nature, and if he erred, the 
nation and the people have already forgotten it in grateful 
appreciation of his life of service and sacrifice. 

Many men have been permitted to make sacrifices upon the 
field of battle, have added luster to their name by conspicuous 
bravery and self-sacrifice in the service of their country in 
times of war; and many men have been called from the ranks 
of the people to serve in its civic offices and its legislative halls 
and in response have given the best they had, but compara- 
tively few in their lives have been so nearly an embodiment of 
the ideal of the people as to be called and long maintain in 
distinguished service in both war and peace; and very, very 
few are those, who, having been granted the highest honors it 
was possible to bestow upon them, have so fully carried with 
them to their private life and to their tomb the universal love 
and gratitude of the nation. 

We look upon his life as a wonderful example of the simple, 
open-hearted patriot; step by step we follow his course from 
boyhood to manhood, almost from the cradle to the grave, and 
looking back over the growth and development of the warrior 
and statesman, we are justified in saying: Here is a true exam- 
ple and type of noble and safe American citizenship; a life and 
record which, in times of doubt and questioning for the future 
of our country as she battles with the problems of government, 
stands out as a rainbow of promise and cheer, an inspiration of 
hope. 

He came, as many of our best and truest patriots have come, 
from across the seas, and this nation has reason to thank God, 
to thank a kind and protecting Providence that while we have 
opened our gates offering the freedom and protection of a strong 
and friendly government to the oppressed of the world, many of 
the best of the earth, possessing the true spirit of American 
freedom with their hearts filled with the love of God and with a 
true respect and regard for the rights of their fellowmen, have 
come, made themselves one with us and truly entered into our 
national life to strengthen and to maintain it. 



—12— 

Feeling as I do the danger in which the purity of the nation 
and the life of the government is placed by reason of our invi- 
tation to the world and our ever open doors, a danger which 
increases in proportion to the material prosperity of our people, 
I feel that a prayer of thankfulness should be continually made 
that many men of wisdom and generous self-sacrificing hearts 
have been inspired to accept our invitation and to come and 
cast in with us their lot and do their full part in preserving the 
institutions of our free land. 

David B. Henderson was a true American patriot. The acci- 
dent of birth is little in cases like his. His was the same spirit, 
the same loving ambitions, the same desire, which in the Revo- 
lution brought Washington and his patriotic troops to endure 
the terrible hardships of those bloody years, and as truly and 
justly will the ages to come l3ok upon Henderson and our later 
day heroes as Fathers of Their Country, as those, who through 
like spirit and sacrifices, instituted our great experiment of a 
free democratic government. 

From across the seas came that little Scottish lad, his inher- 
itance a strong and manly ancestry, his capital to be use 1 in 
life's battle a brave, true heart, and the inspiration of a Chris- 
tian home. We of the Third Congressional District of Iowa 
who have always felt an interest in him we love to think pecul- 
iarly our own, love to think of the little tow-headed, barefooted 
boy singing as he followed his father's plow, for always the sun- 
shine and music of the world found a home and expression in 
his life. 

We were interested in his school life in an Iowa school that 
was a builder of strong men as, evidenced by the men of 
intellect that have gone forth from its walls to high positions in 
state and private life, a builder of patriotic life as evidenced by 
its depopulation when the country in its need had use for men. 

With him and his companions were the hearts of our people 
when they so bravely did their part at Donelson and Shiloh, 
and when at Corinth so many of our brave men — boys they 
were in fact — laid down their lives or like Henderson, escaped 
as through fire to suffer for their bravery as long as their lives 
should last. 

Do you not see why our people loved him? Turn to the years 
of service in office where, if ever a man was recognized as serv- 



—13— 

ing his whole people regardless of their position in society or 
even their political affinity, such service was his, that service to 
be only ended by his own demand for rest and change. 

Do you not see why the Third District, Henderson's District, 
if you please — loved him; or why I, one of his humble constitu- 
ents, a resident of that District, consider it an honor to stand 
here offering tribute to his name? Come then with me and 
cross the thresholds of our people, talk with them of Henderson 
and his service, and you can not fail in some way and in some 
measure to understand. As with others of old, my grandmother 
sang to me the battle songs of the Civil war and talked to me of 
its terrors ; her stories of battles, of its heroes and sacrifices 
have become part of my life, and Henderson who had taken 
salt with her at our family board, had joined us in our evening 
song, who went out to war across her threshold with her sons, 
seemed always one of them. Always with him in war we had 
our part, and when with us in pleasure, he was one, a happy 
hearted, romping, lovable fellow, and what he was to this fam- 
ily, he has been to many throughout that District; honored for 
his service, respected for his high preferment, but loved, loved 
as a member of our families, loved as a son and as a brother. 

Your committee has just returned from his obsequies and I 
doubt not each has been impressed by the touching incidents of 
that day, expressive of the relation which existed between him 
and his people. In our battle of life when disappointments 
come to us, when we think we see the hollowness of some prized 
friendship, when we think we can detect the ring of insincerity 
and ingratitude in both public and social life, the spirit comes 
strong upon every honest man to shake it off, to free himself, to 
have no part or portion with it, to let the world and the people 
go their way and work out their salvation as they may. Then 
there comes to us the thought or remembrance of some such 
touching exhibition of affection as it has been the privilege of 
your committee to see and for very shame we come back to take 
new hold, to consecrate our powers to renewed and truer service 
of humanity. 

Is it worth while? The Chinaman will sell his life on promise 
of a fine cortege with the appearance of respect and mourning 
at his tomb — all, all a hollow sham. Is it not vastly more worth 
our while that we so live that when the casket and the tomb 
shall claim its sure heritage, we go without regret, but with the 



— 14 — 

assurance that we have minfully and faithfully done our part 
to brighten and sweeten the life of humanity, and with the 
knowledge that what the Chinaman cannot buy is ours by right, 
the love of our true friends who mourn our separation. 

I wish you could all have seen what we, your committee, saw 
not alone the elaborate preparation and fitting ritual which his 
rank and service to his state and nation demanded, but the 
expression of affection and love of the people, — the people whom 
Henderson loved and served, — as they thronged and packed the 
streets; men, women and children of all ages and conditions in 
life, farming in very fact as they thronged the ways, an unmov- 
ing guard from church to tomb where we laid him to rest upon a 
flowery bed — the tribute of his friends — wrapping his casket in 
the emblem of his country woven by his comrades in arms from 
the bright and beautiful flowers which God's bright sun had 
kissed to life for the loving deed. There, on the sloping hillside 
with the majestic river at its foot; there, where the bright, 
warm rays of God's glorious sun would greet it earliest in the 
morning and leave it last in the evening, we buried the people's 
friend. Oh! the wealth and worth of that word friend. 
Whether it be that most precious one whose mother's care 
taught our unsteady feet the paths of life, or those who in im- 
pulsive youth made our troubles and our battles their own, or 
the one to, whom in mature manhood we can open our very heart 
of hearts sure of sympathy and good cheer, they are the most 
precious of earth's blessings, the possession and appreciation of 
these makes brighter our days of life and quickens our hope of 
heaven. On yonder hillside is marked the resting place of our 
friend, but only that portion which under God's mandate shall 
return to the dust from whence it came. His truer grave is in 
the warm and loving hearts of his many, many friends, from 
which vantage point he will be called to his reward by a just 
and generous God. And may the blessings of that God be 
yours, our true hearted, brave hearted, generous hearted 
friend. 



-15— 



ADDRESS OF MR. KENDALL. 



Mr. President: — Paraphrasing the lament of David upon 
the death of Abner, we may well exclaim; 

Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this 
day in Iowa? 

And out of the oppressive gloom which everywhere surrounds 
us, we may lay hold upon the consoling philosophy of the pre- 
mier apostle: 

Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, 
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, what- 
soever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, 
if there be any virtue, or if there be any praise, think on these 
things. 

Tn obedience to the command alike of duty and of desire, the 
General Assembly of Iowa pauses today to consecrate an hour 
to the memory of David Bremner Henderson . If the ceremony 
is unusual, the occasion is extraordinary. Never before in the 
history of the commonwealth has the passing of a private citi- 
zen involved the community in bereavement so universal and so 
profound. The rich and the poor, the high and the low, the 
proud and the humble, the honored and the obscure, all unite 
in tribute inexpressibly sorrowful to our distinguished dead. 

It always is profitable to consider the cause and effect of a 
successful career; and the life, character and service of Colonel 
Henderson are replete beyond comparison with encouragement 
and hope. Upon his youth and young manhood, I shall not 
amplify. Born in the land of the thistle, he was of that origin, or 
extraction,'^ which has contributed so many illustrious names 
to our national history. The shrewd sense, the acute intel- 
lect, the undaunted perseverance, the indomitable courage, the 
inimitable humor, the abiding reverence, the affectionate ten- 
derness, the unyielding patriotism for which the Scotch peas- 
antry is so notable, have never suffered in the migration to 
America. Our friend exemplified in remarkable measure all 
these incomparable qualities, and he employed them all and 
always in contribution to the happiness of his race. Trans- 
ferred at an early age to Illinois, transplanted thence to the 
expansive prairies of Iowa, he was just approaching his major- 
ity when Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United 
States. When Fort Sumpter was attacked by organized treason, 
he was a student at Upper Iowa University, and it was from 



—16— 

that seat of learning that he issued his first impressive message 
to his adopted people : 

"We drop our books to fight our country's battles." 
It was by this inspiring utterance that the youth Henderson 
announced to the world that he had within him the elements of 
a man. The situation of the republic was critical in the 
extreme. Diplomacy could not further compose the discord ; 
compromise could not longer postpone the issue. The hour for 
argument in the forum had expired, and the moment for conflict 
in the field had arrived. The old question, Can a democracy 
preserve its integrity against domestic insurrection?, asked 
when Washington was inaugurated, and repeated through every 
subsequent administration, now demanded immediate answer. 
There was radical difference of opinion on the subject. Since 
the constitution was ordained, there had been constant disagree- 
ment respecting the character of the government. One school 
of thought maintained that it was merely a voluntary association 
of sovereign states, subject to be dissolved at the election of 
any one or number of its membership. Another school of 
thought affirmed that it was an union, indivisible, imperishable, 
perpetual. Out of this disparity of belief there arose, as the 
years elapsed, heated discussion, bitter controversy, crimination 
and recrimination, all to be settled forever, to be settled 
irrevocably, to be settled right by the supreme arbitrament of 
battle. There were men of blood and iron in those irreclaimable 
days. It was the militant age of the republic, an age which 
produced Lincoln and the trusted counsellors in whom he 
confided, Grant and the faithful generals who obeyed his orders, 
and supporting all the invincible battalions of that grand army, 
ready and eager for the strange sacrifice of blood through 
which the emancipation of the slave and the perpetuity of the 
union were to be accomplished. The Civil War was a conflict 
unparallelled in the history of civilization. The terrible loss of 
life, the tremendous destruction of treasure, the firesides ruined, 
the hearth-stones desolated, the families beggared, the 
national travail and wretchedness and misery, the individual 
suffering and sacrifice and death — no imagination, however 
vigorous and resourceful, is competent to delineate the awful 
enormities of that unprecedented catastrophe. We try in 
retrospect to measure all the sorrow and the sadness, and we 
are transfixed with horror. The eyes grow dim, the lips are 
silent, the heart is still. 



— 17- 

It was a calamity unspeakably sorrowful, that fratricidal mis- 
understanding between the people of the North and the people 
of the South. But we long ago learned to know beyond all 
doubting truly that the Almighty has His own purposes, and 
that the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 
There could not be a new birth of freedom so long as the old 
institution of slavery survived. There could not be a more per- 
fect union in peace until the doctrine of states' rights per- 
ished by the sword. There could not be remission of national 
sin without the shedding of individual blood. And so the war 
was inevitable. It affords us all infinite satisfaction to 
remember that in that supreme crisis which wrenched and almost- 
wrecked the republic, our own peerless Henderson, the poor and 
obscure boy born across the sea, sustained no inconspicuous 
part and achieved no inconsiderable renown. From the day of 
his enlistment as a private to the day he was mustered out as a 
colonel, he was in every sweltering trench, on every weary 
march, at every deadly charge, always the first to the front and 
the last to the rear; and his sword was never sheathed and his 
gun was never stacked until the last armed enemy of his 
country had unconditionally capitulated. Seriously wounded 
at Donelson, cruelly maimed at Corinth, he was offered a dis- 
charge; but he refused more than a furlough, and with a loyalty 
and a patriotism which laughed at danger and mocked at 
despair, this Scottish-American, who loved liberty for others 
more than he valued life for himself, fought on and on and on 
until the Confederacy completely collapsed at Appommattox 
Court House. And then, when the cause of freedom had finally 
triumphed, when the spirit of rebellion was completely van- 
quished, when the union of the states was eternally established, 
he discarded the uniform he had rendered immortal, and 
crowned with all the unfading honor which accompanies a 
soldier's duty nobly done, he returned to home and family and 
friends to resume again the employments of civil citizenship : 

Patient of toil, serene amid alarms, 
Inflexible in faith, indomitable in arms. 

That was four decades ago. In the intervening years, spring 
has come with its tender violets, summer with its gorgeous field 
of flowers, autumn with its golden, withered leaves, and winter 
with its blanket of crystal snow. All is forgiven, all is forgot- 
ten, except the glorious results of the combat in which he was 



—18— 

engaged, and the reminiscences of it in which his comrades 
alone have the right to indulge. The service of Colonel Hen- 
person in the War of the Rebellion! What a splendid inheri- 
tance he has bequeathed to those who follow him ! His devo- 
tion to his country, his sacrifices in her behalf, his blood -offer- 
ing for her glory ! What a noble memory to widowed wife and 
orphaned children! 

After his discharge from the army he embarked in the prac- 
tice of law, and almost at' once assumed advanced rank among 
his contemporaries. In the days of his unimpaired vigor, not 
many men of his generation were more formidable in forensic 
controversy than he, with his extended experience, his resolute 
earnestness, his forcible eloquence. A cause bitterly contested 
in open court afforded the most befitting possible theatre for the 
exercise of his strenuous and capable faculties. His general- 
ship was resourceful and consummate, his cross-examinations 
adroit and skillful, his arguments acute and convincing. He 
regarded the law as the most honorable of the learned profes- 
sions; and in the long and laborious years that he devoted to 
its practice, his sterling integrity never was impeached, his 
stalwart rectitude never was questioned, his steadfast fidelity 
never was assailed : 

The action faithful, the honor clear. 

And so the years of private labor and its sufficient reward 
went by. But his countrymen were quick to recognize his 
exceptional qualifications for the public service; and in 1883 he 
entered the Congress of the United States, representing the old 
Third District, — a constituency as intelligent, as progressive, as 
patriotic, as any beneath the stars and stripes. For twenty 
years he continued in that high office, advancing to member- 
ship of the committee on Appropriations, to chairmanship of the 
committee on Judiciary, and finally to the Speakership, second 
in importance only to the Presidency itself. It is not immoder- 
ate eulogy of him to say that he conferred distinction upon 
every station he occupied, and that he filled well and worthily 
the great place which Clay and Blaine and Reed had made 
powerful as an agency in the administration of the government. 
As Conkling said of Grant at the Chicago convention, so we 
may say of Henderson : 

His fame is born not alone of things written and things said 
but of the arduous greatness of things done. 



—J 9— 

His character was practical and earnest, perplexed by no 
deceptive theories, disturbed by no attractive illusions. He has 
been referred to here as a great man. He is entitled to be clas- 
sified in that category. He was great in his adherence to the 
ideals of his manhood. He was great in his integrity to the 
principles he professed. He was great in the modesty of his 
mind, in the faithfulness of his heart, in the efficiency of his 
helpfulness. He was great in his fidelity to friendship, in his 
devotion to duty, in his perfect consecration to the public service. 
But he was simple, as all great men and great songs and great 
poems and great paintings are simple. Intermixed with his 
amiability of mind and geniality of soul and generosity of heart 
there was ever the unadorned ruggedness of his ancestral High- 
lands. There was about him always the wide and deep and 
strong atmosphere of mountain and cliff and crag. And men 
and women and children loved him with a love that passeth 
understanding. 

July was in his sunny face, 
October in his generous hand. 

From his first election to congress in 1882 to his voluntary 
retirement four years ago, no rival divided with him the confi- 
dence and affection of his people. He was, as Marc Antony 
described himself to be, "a plain blunt man who loved his 
friends," and in the district which he served so long and so 
loyally, it always was Henderson first, and other ambitious 
aspirants afterwards. His passionate attachment to city, state 
and nation amounted almost to idolatry. It was a liberal edu- 
cation in patriotism to hear him pronounce the words, "The Amer- 
ican Republic," and his "God bless you, comrade" carried joy 
to troubled hearts as by a benediction. And then, when in pub- 
lic speech he would portray in words of living light the glory 
and the grandeur of his adopted country, wavering faith in a 
free and enlightened people was stimulated again to fixed con- 
viction. Few of us of the dominant party will soon forget his 
annual appearance upon the platform in advocacy of the prin- 
ciples we believe vital to the prosperity of the country. In such 
labor he was more than a host, and in each recurring campaign 
he traversed the state from river to river, challenging the sons 
of patriotism to drink again from the fountains of enthusiasm. 

He never sought to be conspicuous, and as a consequence he 
was the most conspicuous man in any company. His methods 



-20— 

were too direct to include the sapping and mining of small men, 
and he could not master that finesse which fosters agitation for 
the dividends it returns in public preferment. He cherished as 
beyond value the sincere approval of his fellow-men, but he 
had nothing but contempt for the emptiness of subsidized 
applause. 

Colonel Henderson belonged to America, but Iowa claims him 
as peculiarly her own. He enjoyed a degree of popularity per- 
haps never attained by any other citizen, for he never aban- 
doned a friend in trouble, nor retreated from a foe in danger . 
Politic or impolitic, he always entertained convictions, and he 
never hesitated to defend them in any presence. He abhorred 
hypocrisy and despised pretension, for his nature was as open 
as a cloudless sky. He was unfamiliar with the language of 
diplomacy, he never resorted to expedients, he could not 
approach a position by parallels. He never affected a virtue 
which he did not exemplify, and he could not "crook the preg- 
nant hinges of the knee that thrift might follow fawning." If 
he was for a proposition or a candidacy, he was altogether for 
it; if he was against it, he was altogether against it. Upon all 
problems public and private, upon all issues social and reli- 
gious, upon all questions moral and political, his yea was yea, 
and his nay was nay. 

Nature was generous almost to improvidence with Colonel 
Henderson. He was endowed with marvelous attributes, phys- 
ical and mental, and all these were attended by a personal 
charm as irresistable as it was impalpable, attracting strongly 
the multitude who knew him with casual acquaintance, and 
grappling to him with hooks of steel those he admitted within 
his inner sanctuary. To all classes and conditions of society he 
was the most companionable of men, for his heart overflowed in 
sympathy and interest for his fellows. His conversation was 
brilliant and delightful and full of variety, but no spark from 
his humor was ever a cinder in the eye of his friend. He was 
many-sided as life itself . We have seen him in the fore- front 
of national discussion, contesting for parliamentary supremacy 
with the best equipped disputants of his time, and we have 
exulted with instinctive pride in his triumphant achievements. 
And again, we have seen him in the presence of a pioneer 
mother of the state he loved so well; and the fine consideration, 
the gentle courtesy, the sweet tenderness he displayed, has 



-21— 



thrilled us with a wealth of affection that no other has ever 
inspired. And so he came to twilight and evening star, con- 
scious of the unfaltering favor of his people, with honor, love, 
obedience, troops of friends, to accompany his old age. He 
won many victories, but he was finally defeated. He could 
vanquish the enemies of his country upon the bloodiest of 
battle-fields, but when the relentless messenger from the 
shadowy shore touched his shining, shield, he surrendered 
without a murmer, and passed to the everlasting silence. 



ADDRESS OF MR. FRUDDEN. 

Mr. President: — Henderson is dead. 

The great soldier of the battle field, the able debator in the 
Halls of Congress, the great speaker and true friend of all, and 
one of the most beloved and honored citizens of our state, is 
no more. 

He has passed out of the shadow 

Into a purer light, 

Stepping behind the curtain 

Getting a clearer sight, 

Laying aside a burden 

This weary mortal coil, 

Done with the world's vexation 

Done with its tears and toil. 

During his life he realized that there was only one founda- 
tion upon which to build a life, and that was honesty. It has 
been said that honesty is not a good policy, but it is a funda- 
mental and unlined principle, it is the bed rock to which you 
must dig sooner or later if you expect the superstructure to 
stand. No man has ever, and could not accuse Colonel Hen- 
derson of dishonesty, but he is no more, and as far as we know, 
what remains of him is laid at rest in beautiful Linwood, on 
that highest spot of that magnificent bluff overlooking the great 
Father of Waters, and nearly in the corner of the three great 
states, Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. His desire and wish has 
been gratified. His home city turned out by the thousands and 
the state was well represented on the day when the body of the 
late Colonel Henderson was taken to its final resting place. 

Henderson was a great man in a great many ways. It can 
be said of him that he was revered and respected the most 
where he was best known. Iowa claimed him as one of its 



foremost citizens, but Dubuque claimed him, and had aright to 
do it, as her favorite son. Here is where he made his home, 
here is where his family grew up, and here is where the people 
called him "Our Dave". His life has been an open book, let 
anybody read and judge, who cares to, but the good deeds that 
came from the bottom of his heart, he did not parade, and are 
only known to a few. 

What he did, he did without fear or favor. Aside from poli- 
tical reward, he expected none, and desired none, but in all of 
his attempts his great aim was to get to the top. He knew that 
success never comes to the man who is watching the clock for 
fear that he might work over time. 

He knew well that the man who succeeds is the man who not 
merely is satisfied to do the work that is laid out for him, but is 
willing and glad to do more. As a soldier, none was braver, 
and none went into battle with a greater determination to do his 
best and to win a victory than Colonel Henderson. As a states- 
man, he certainly ranked with the foremost, of those who were 
his contemporaries in the halls on legislation. He never tried 
to put his conscience to sleep with the theory that if he did as 
well as he could, he could do no more. He was never satisfied 
as long as there was more to do. But finally he got tired of all 
earth's burdens, and we might use the words of the great Amer- 
ican scholar and author who once said at the open grave of his 
brother that 

' 'Life is a narrow vale between the cold and barren peak 
of two eternities, 

We strive in vain to look beyond the heights. 

We cry aloud and the only answer is the echo of our 
wailing cry 

To let us believe in spite of doubts, darkness, tears and fears, 

That there may be beyond the grave, more than we know of 

O, Father in thy heavenly home, must surely be a place 

For such true son of thine. 
Very few, Mr. President and gentlemen, I suppose are aware 
that Colonel D. B. Henderson was somewhat of a poet but as 
far as known he only wrote one, the title of which was the 
"Yes" or "No," which you will permit me to repeat. 

Is there a mentor, strong and good, 
That always indicates the road, 

Where we should go? 
That tells us, with unerring voice, 
Which of the words should be our choice — 

The "Yes" or 'No''? 



—23- 

When seeking heaven and avoiding hell, 
"Tis often hard in life, to tell 

Which way to go; 
One messenger will cry " 'Tis here" 
Another listens with a sneer — 

A third shouts "No". 

We have the bibles of the earth, 
With all their holy power and worth, 

And yet we know 
The world is wild with disputation, 
As to "the true road to salvation" — 
The "Yes" or "No"? 

When seeking virtue's truest path, 
And all the purest gems she hath, 

Is there no woe? 
Is there no doubt in noblest mind, 
When in the word from Heaven would find- 
The "Yes" or "No"? 

Our hearts will whisper ' 'This is right; 
Here live and love and drink delight, 

Nor dream of woe." 
When reason suddenly cries out, 
In tones that fill the heart with doubt, 

And thunders "No." 

And ever thus, we rise and fall; 
We hope and fear and tremble, all, 

Until we go. 
Then we shall have a sweet repose; 
There is a Light that melts our woes — 
Lost is the "No." 



—24— 



ADDRESS OF MR. PERKINS. 



To bring at such a time a loving tribute to a friend, distin- 
guished as Col. Henderson was distinguished, is a high office. 
It is a time when the infirmity of speech is felt — a time when 
the heart appeals for words the tongue cannot frame. When we 
are gathered as we are here, standing as it were on the bridge 
that unites the worlds, our conscious sense reveals the impot- 
ence of all we can say by ourselves alone. The clouds hang 
low and the day is dark; we have the dizziness of swaying, and 
instinctively we stretch forth our hand in feeling after the hand 
of God. If so be we reach it we have the thrill of soul. I can- 
not speak to you as I would. I shrink from saying anything, 
oppressed by the fear that what I may say shall be discord in 
the loving symphony of your hearts. 

What Col. Henderson wrought is preserved in the coldness of 
type on many pages; what he was and the things for which he 
strove are known to those who had his love, his friendship and 
his great solicitude. Throughout his life, while his mind had 
strength, he was a helpful man. Out of his helpfulness came 
his glory. He was naturally a leader; he was always a soldier. 
In his congressional district he was "Our Dave." He belonged 
to his people; there was a sense of partnership, if not of owner- 
ship, and the men did for him the better to do for themselves. 
The greatness of his heart broke down barriers, and into his 
life came trooping the multitude. He welcomed all alike — the 
rich, the poor, the proud, the lowly, the joyful, the sorrowful, 
the few of strength and the many with heavy burden. Where 
he stood was the shining of the sun, and in his atmosphere was 
warmth and the cheer of it. He was a rich contributor to the 
needs of men ; and he had such tenderness as to dry the tears 
of women and such magician's art as to pluck the appearance 
of trouble from the'f aces of children. "Our Dave!" He never 
bore a prouder title. 

Our friend was a native of Old Deer, Scotland; but essentially 
he was an Iowan — broadly speaking, an American. He was 6 
years old when the family arrived in Illinois, and he was 9 years 
old when settlement was made on a farm in Fayette county of 
this state. He was a working boy — a farmer's boy. He 
attended the neighborhood school; he led the simple life and 
grew to a lusty manhood. He was a student in the Upper Iowa 



—25- 

University in 1861 when the call came for men for the saving of 
the Union. He surrendered his own plans; he joined in fanning 
the fires of patriotism, and on a September day, a leader among 
his mates, he put his name to an enlistment roll as a private 
soldier. He was chosen first lieutenant to Company C, Twelfth 
Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and with that noble regiment he went 
to the front. That was the beginning of his long service to his 
state and to his country. At Donelson he was wounded; at 
Corinth he lost a leg, and on February 16, 1863, he was dis- 
charged. But he only accepted a furlough, for in May following 
he was appointed commissioner of the board of enrollment for 
the Third district of Iowa, and he served in that place untilJune, 
1864, when he re-entered the army as colonel of the Forty- sixth 
Iowa Volunteer Infantry and served therein to the close of the 
term for which the regiment was enlisted. He was admitted to 
the bar in the fall of 1865, and from November of that 
year until June, 1869, he was collector of internal revenue for 
this elistrict, and then he resigned to become a member of the 
law firm of Shiras, Van Duzee & Henderson. In 1882 he was 
elected representative in congress from the Third district, and 
he continued in that office for twenty years — the last four years 
in the great office of speaker. He served for a longer time in 
the House of Representatives than any Iowa man has yet served, 
and his record in that body it not likely soon to be matched by 
a representative from this state. His service throughout was 
characteristic of the man. It was efficient, patriotic and uni- 
formly in distinguished place. He was a recognized leader in 
that body long before his speakership, serving on the committee 
on Appropriations, on the committee on Judiciary and on the 
committee on Rules. With the retirement of the late Thomas B. 
Reed he was the unanimous choice of his political associates 
for the exalted station Mr. Reed surrendered, and on the expira- 
tion of his first term as speaker he was unanimously re-elected. 
Had he remained in congress he would with like unanimity 
been continued in the place. In 1902 the convention of his party in 
this congressional district tendered him a renomination. He 
decided not to accept it. He decided to retire from public, life. 
He acted on his own motion and with courage that never failed 
him. His announcement was a shock to his friends and a sur- 
prise to the state and to the country. But having determin ed 
upon his course, no amount of persuasion could turn him from it. 
It seemed a pity that his brilliant public career should end as 



-26- 



it did; and yet there is this to turn to — that it ended with 
honors at his feet and with the love and confidence of his peo- 
ple unshaken. There are so many exceptions that we do not 
need on this account to add one atom to the weight of our regret. 
We may even say that it was best that it should be so. It may 
well be a pity, nevertheless, that so many men come to the end 
of their public service under circumstances we count in the 
retrospect as unhappy. There is no sting to mortal life like that 
of ingratitude. To be misunderstood, to have all thought of 
kindness and of service swept away, and to be brought face to 
face with the undiscerning and passionate struggle of partisan 
selfishness, when one's years are come within hailing distance 
erf the limit of a lifetime, puts strong hearts to such cruel tests 
that there are many broken. So it is that there is much super- 
ficial judgment that the public service is to be shunned; and 
yet we know that out of this service have we all the greatness, 
the wonderful opportunity and the glory of this government 
which in the process of time has worked out the Union, the 
progress, the shining example, of these states, constituting 
under God, as I believe, one great republic. 

The youth of Col. Henderson in his love of country was never 
old, and though he had lived twice his years yet would the 
ardor of it made no sign of age. I wish I had in this hour the 
eloquence with which he was wont to speak. In his young man- 
hood he took an oath of allegiance to the stars and stripes, 
and where that flag led, if he did not himself bear it, he followed 
always and unfalteringly. There was no shiftiness in his 
patriotism ; no shrinking in the loyalty of his service, and no 
pride that withheld his hand from friend associated with him in 
triumph or from foe prostrate in defeat. He was known as a 
manly man; and so he was known in the House of Representa- 
tives where he so long served. He won the admiration of his 
political opponents, for they learned that they could take him 
at his word. He fought in the open and not by intrigue; his 
word was as an all-sufficient bond. He was scrupulously care- 
ful of his political promises; he would not run from them to 
cover. This was the secret of his great power in the House of 
Representatives. He was a partisan, to be sure, but he was 
fair, he rung true, he was honest. His enthusiasm was as the 
march of an army, and in the midst of the clash of angry debate 
his voice resounded above the din like blast of bugle. He was 



-27— 

always in the thick of it, but from every battle he came out a 
larger man. Thus it was that he came to be speaker, the high- 
est office in the government to which he was eligible, and the 
first man ever chosen to that place of distinction and great 
power from a state west of the Mississippi river. 

For a period of years, and in a formative period of republican 
triumph, he stood in full stature as a national leader — which is 
to say, a national representative. He was a councilor and a 
fighter. In the great national conventions of his party he 
helped to form the line of battle. In the conventions of his 
state he was always to be reckoned with. Here, again, a ques- 
tion of loyalty was never placed against his name. He lived 
and did his greatest work in a time of marvelous achievement, 
wherefrom in this present time there is much of bounty, much 
of reward, much of the fruit of hope and of striving, affording 
safe harbor and secure anchorage. A time like this may well 
move us to consider our great debt, which in no measure can 
we discharge except that we shall serve, so far as strength is 
lodged with us, as we have been served. 

It may be true that Col. Henderson was often controlled by 
his sympathies, and I honor him for that. He was lion-hearted, 
and yet he was tender-hearted. His love of Iowa he kept 
green, and he gave it nurture, as the garden of his flowers, 
down to the last sad days of his conscious life. When he retired 
from congress he had thought of opportunity elsewhere. He 
went to New York and mixed with the strange faces and the 
confusion of that mighty city. But one day came word that he 
would return to this his city and to this his state, and that here 
he would pass the remainder of his days. Possibly the con- 
sciousness was upon him that his time of initiation and of strug- 
gle was well nigh over; at least there came to him the senso of 
loneliness and the longing for home. And so it was that hands 
here and from over the state were outstretched to him in unani- 
mous bidding that he come. Alas! that he should already have 
entered upon the greatest, the most heroic battle of his life. 
He sought restoration in California. The tenderest of loving 
hearts were with him ; but as the weeks passed the sorrowful 
story took form that he was being pressed by an implacable foe 
toward the darkness of the river. He returned in the early 
months of a new year; he saw these familiar hillsides take on 
their color; he saw the trees that line these familiar streets 
break their buds and expand their foliage; he saw the faces of 



—28- 

old friends- and as the summer waned the night came on. 
But he was at home. Aye, now let us say he is at home, and 
peace be his for ever more. 

I shall remember him as he was, in the brilliancy of his mind 
and in the buoyancy of his physical strength. I shall remem- 
ber him as the comrade he was, the life of every company. He 
had more sunshine than he had need of for himself and he 
warmed men and made them glad. He dignified high station, 
and out of his great heart he wove countless wreathes for hum- 
ble lives. Of these latter there will be some in my own coffin. 

His life was an example and an inspiration : the poor boy on 
the farm, the soldier going to the front, his cruel hurt, his 
indomitable spirit, his struggle for a better place among men ; 
how he builded from the web of opportunity, gained admission 
to a learned profession, took a place with distinguished law- 
yers, year by year added to his power; chosen to represent his 
district in congress, advanced there to great influence, receiving 
at the last the homage of the office which is only second to the 
presidency — this poor boy, born over the sea. He had many 
contest; we may know he had defeats, for we have come here 
now with our tears and with our benedictions. 

All the struggle is over, the varying tide of it and its pain. 
We can add nothing to his fame; we cannot put his heart to 
beating, and there is no power in earthly love to recall the soul 
that has taken flight. The lifelong soldier has been mustered 
out. His commission is with his people. 

David Bremmer Henderson — but not that. "Our Dave,'* 
hail to you and farewell ! 



UJe'12 



